I like learn some summercater on tv set , even more so now that I have a high - definition TV . Hockey , for instance — I can sit through a game even if I do n’t like about the teams involved because it ’s such a fascinating spectacle . I mean , it ’s not just the skill and coordination required to hand and spud a puck , but these people are on ice skates the whole metre . ( And it ’s interesting to look on a sport where if you get into a niggling fisticuffs , you get a few minutes to catch your breath instead of being reboot from the game altogether . ) I also enjoy baseball game , peculiarly when I can cheer for theLos Angeles Dodgersor antecedent against theSan Francisco Giants .
But when it comes to many other sports , I ’m less of a bonnie - atmospheric condition sports fan than just a late - blooming fan . The major lawn tennis events are fun to see in later rounds , after the straw has severalize itself the chaff . Same goes with basketball . When medals are on the bank line during the Olympics , I ’m there . And I ’ve even been known to put up with a Super Bowl or two , but mostly just to watch the outrageously - expensive ads .
Those same tendencies have scupper themselves recently with the World Cup . Now I played many age ofAYSOsoccer raise up . And when I was stricken with thechicken poxduring the 1990 World Cup in Italy , I watched nearly every match ( mostly because they were on TV when I could n’t sleep at night ) . But I ’m not what you ’d call a self-aggrandizing association football ( blue , “ football game ” ) fan . I do n’t own a soccer New Jersey , nor do I follow the sport . This year , I enchant a friction match or two on TV , but had n’t really paid that much care .
But when it got down to the semifinals — with just four teams result out of 32 — I found myself a little more concerned . I see as Italy defeated the host German team over the weekend in the wane minutes of extra time . And I cared enough to check the score of the France ’s match against Portugal while at oeuvre Wednesday . When I got home , I thought I ’d fire up theofficial FIFA 2006 World Cup sitefor video highlight of France ’s victory . But when I tried to load the highlighting usingFirefox , instead of streaming kicks and blocks , I could barely make out the words “ undefined / undefined ” in white text on a grayish background . No fate .
As my colleague Cyrus Farivar has been covering at theMac User blog , many users of the better platform have been having trouble playing videos from the Yahoo - host World Cup site . Always concerned in a challenge , I make up one’s mind to recall like the legal age of the world ( it is the World Cup , after all ) , and give in to the Dark Side . I fired up my MacBook , launched the virtualization computer software Parallels Desktop for Mac , and then reboot up a copy of Windows XP in a piddling window on my screen background . Windows prompted me to permit it to set up the Flash plugin , which I did . I then picked the match I wanted , and the highlight played beautifully . So , for the people out who are asking why anyone would require to to instal Windows on a Mac , there ’s an model . Hardly worth the money if all you require to do is check a highlighting from time to time , but until the humanity sees primed to provide equality in computing , it ’s at least an option .
And yes , I do design to determine the final match between France and Italy — as long as it does n’t overlap with the Dodgers - Giants game that day .
